The new Australian government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is facing a test of its election pledge to closely monitor activities by Japanese whaling ships in Antarctic waters.
Activists on two Sea Shepherd ships have been tracking the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru. They claim to have used a helicopter to video images of minke whales being butchered on the Japanese factory ship inside the International Whaling Commission's Southern Ocean whale sanctuary.
During the recent election, Greg Hunt, now Australia's environment minister, promised to send customs ships to monitor the kill. This has not happened, and Hunt says it is because the three ships are in New Zealand's search and rescue zone.
